Yamaha FG820 Acoustic Guitar: Full Review

The Yamaha FG820 is an affordable yet high-quality acoustic guitar that has been a staple of Yamaha's FG series for over 50 years. This guitar combines traditional construction with modern playability to create a versatile instrument suitable for beginners and experienced players alike.

Made with a solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides, the FG820 produces a balanced tone across the tonal spectrum, with crisp highs, warm lows, and a punchy midrange. The dreadnought body shape projects volume and resonance, while the matte finish and traditional appearance give the FG820 a classic, timeless look.

Overall, the Yamaha FG820 offers fantastic bang-for-buck as a great all-round acoustic guitar for a variety of styles, from strumming chords to fingerpicking melodies. Its quality woods, sturdy construction, and excellent playability make it a reliable choice for new and established guitarists.

Construction

The Yamaha FG820 features a solid Sitka spruce top, along with nato back and sides. The solid spruce top contributes to the guitar's clear, balanced tone and good projection. Spruce is a popular choice for acoustic guitar tops thanks to its resonant properties. It provides a nice dynamic range from mellow and warm to bright and snappy.

The back and sides are made from nato wood, which is sometimes called Eastern mahogany. Nato has a mid-range focused tone that helps fill out the low end, while allowing the spruce top to still shine with sparkling highs. It's a durable, dense wood that's an economical alternative to mahogany. The core combination of a spruce top with nato back and sides makes the FG820 well-suited to playing folk, pop, rock, country and more.

The construction and materials used in the Yamaha FG820 give it a balanced, versatile sound. The solid spruce top provides excellent resonance and responsiveness. Spruce is a traditional tonewood for acoustic guitars, prized for its dynamic range. The nato back and sides offer a focused midrange that complements the bright spruce top. Together, these woods make a great pairing for strumming chords or picking melodies across many styles of music.

In addition to its solid wood top, the FG820 features a nato neck and rosewood fingerboard and bridge. The neck is set into the body at the 14th fret for enhanced playability and comfort. The rosewood fingerboard has a slightly narrower nut width of 1.6875", which helps those with smaller hands easily fret chords and notes. The body binding and wood rosette around the soundhole provide a nice decorative touch.

The FG820 is an excellent entry-level acoustic guitar that gives players great Yamaha quality and sound in an affordable package. While not as fancy as their higher-end models, the FG820 focuses on the fundamentals - great materials, solid construction and easy playability. This makes it a reliable choice for beginners, but also a worthy workhorse guitar for more advanced musicians.

Another popular acoustic guitar in a similar price range is the Epiphone ENSVEBVCH1. Like the Yamaha FG820, it features a solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides. Epiphone is known for making quality, budget-friendly guitars. The ENSVEBVCH1 has a slightly smaller auditorium style body for balanced tone and easy playing. It comes equipped with a Shadow ePerformer preamp system, making it easy to plug into an amplifier. The Shadow preamp features a built-in tuner, EQ controls and even some basic effects. So for players looking for an affordable acoustic-electric, the Epiphone ENSVEBVCH1 is an excellent option to consider alongside the Yamaha FG820.

Sound

The Yamaha FG820 produces a bright, balanced tone that works well for a wide range of playing styles. The solid Sitka spruce top helps generate a clear, articulate sound with good volume and sustain. There's enough crispness in the high end to bring out melodic detail, while the midrange stays focused. The rosewood back and sides fill out the lows and low mids, providing warmth and resonance without muddiness. Fingerstyle playing comes through with clear note separation. Strummed rhythm parts sound full yet defined. Overall, the FG820 delivers excellent tonal balance from the lows to the highs, appealing to fingerpickers and strummers alike. The versatile sound projects nicely when playing live yet records well in the studio. This is an acoustic guitar that can handle anything from rock to jazz to country. The tone is lively enough for solo guitar, yet balanced enough to sit well in an ensemble mix.

The Yamaha FG820's balanced tone makes it a great choice for a wide variety of musical genres and playing styles. It has enough crisp highs to bring out melodic detail, focused mids, and warm lows from the rosewood back and sides. This versatility allows it to appeal to both fingerstyle players and strummers. The projecting yet balanced tone records well in the studio while also working for live performance situations, from solo playing to ensemble mixes. For guitarists looking for one affordable acoustic that can do it all tonally, the FG820 is an excellent option to consider.

While the Yamaha FG820 is a versatile acoustic guitar tonally, players looking for a different flavor may want to check out the Ortega Guitars RCE131L. This acoustic-electric model produces a rich, deep tone with a focus on the low-end and low-mids. The mahogany top contributes to the guitar's darker, warmer voice. Compared to the brighter FG820, the RCE131L has a mellower sound that emphasizes the bass and lower frequencies. This can make it a better choice for certain fingerstyle playing approaches, particularly ones focusing on the low strings. The onboard preamp provides amplification while retaining the RCE131L's natural tonal character. While not as versatile as the FG820 overall, the Ortega RCE131L offers an alternative flavor that fingerstyle players may prefer.

In the end, choosing between the Yamaha FG820 and Ortega RCE131L comes down to tonal preferences and playing style needs. The Yamaha offers exceptional versatility across musical genres and playing approaches. Its balanced tone works for both fingerpicking and strumming. In contrast, the Ortega provides a darker, bass-focused voice tailored more for low-end fingerstyle playing. For guitarists wanting one affordable acoustic for many scenarios, the Yamaha FG820 is a great jack-of-all-trades option. But players desiring a mellower, warmer fingerstyle tone may appreciate the Ortega RCE131L's singular low-end voice.

Playability

The Yamaha FG820 has fantastic playability that makes it comfortable for long practice sessions. The action on this guitar is very low, meaning the strings are close to the fretboard and easy to press down. This allows for smooth playing and faster transitions between chords.

The FG820 also has a nice slim neck profile that is easy to grip. The neck has a width of 1 11/16 inches at the nut, which is a very common and comfortable width found on many acoustic guitars. The slim profile neck combined with the low action creates an effortless playing feel.

The body shape itself is also comfortable. It has soft contours that fit nicely against your body in a seated position. The waist of the guitar body is slimmer, which helps with comfort during longer sessions. Overall, between the low action, slim neck, and contour body shape, the FG820 is one of the most comfortable and playable acoustic guitars out there.

Hardware

The Yamaha FG820 features high-quality hardware that enhances its playability and tones. It utilizes precision die-cast tuners that keep the guitar in tune through changes in humidity and temperature. The tuners are also designed for fast and accurate tuning adjustments.

The tortoise pickguard provides both style and protection for the guitar's top. Its mottled brown and black design complements the instrument's natural wood body.

For warm, balanced tones, the FG820 incorporates a rosewood bridge and fingerboard. Rosewood is prized for its rich bass and excellent note separation. The material's hardness also provides a very playable feel and helps reduce wear. Overall, the choice of hardware emphasizes durability, tuning stability, and great acoustic resonance.

Electronics

The Yamaha FG820 is an entirely acoustic guitar, with no electronic components or pickups. As a traditional acoustic instrument, the FG820 produces sound solely from the vibration of its strings transmitted through the bridge to the top wood of the guitar body. Without any electronics, the guitar must be amplified through an external microphone if amplification is desired in performance settings. This gives the FG820 a pure, organic acoustic tone, with the wood construction directly influencing the sound. The lack of any preamps, EQ or onboard effects allows the guitar's natural acoustic voice to shine through. While some players may desire electronics for flexibility or convenience, the Yamaha FG820's all-acoustic build provides an unmatched resonant richness and keeps the instrument straightforward and affordable. If electronics are needed down the line, the guitar could be fitted with a pickup or microphone, but in its original form it is a traditional, unplugged acoustic.

Pros

The Yamaha FG820 offers several excellent features that make it a great value for an acoustic guitar.

Quality Materials

The FG820 is constructed using solid Sitka spruce for the top and rosewood for the back and sides. These premium tonewoods provide excellent resonance and projection, allowing the FG820 to produce full, rich tones. The all-wood body construction also gives it a natural acoustic sound.

Great Sound

Thanks to its quality tonewood construction and accurate build, the FG820 has impressive sound across the tonal spectrum. It offers bright, articulate trebles, well-balanced mids, and deep low end. From chiming highs to warm bass tones, the FG820 provides versatile acoustic tones in a compact package.

Easy Playability

The FG820 features a comfortable, slim neck profile that makes it very playable and accessible, even for beginners. The action is set low and smooth right out of the box, enabling easy fretting and chording. The cutaway body shape allows easy upper fret access as well. Overall, the FG820 is one of the most playable budget acoustics around.

Cons

The Yamaha FG820 is a basic, no frills acoustic guitar. It lacks some features found on more expensive models:

• No cutaway or electronics - The FG820 does not have a cutaway for easier access to higher frets. It also lacks built-in electronics like an onboard preamp or pickup. This limits the guitar's versatility, as you cannot plug it in for live performance or recording situations.

• Basic specifications - With its laminated spruce top, nato back and sides, and rosewood fingerboard, the FG820 has decent but unremarkable specifications. The hardware, tuning machines, and other components are also basic. Players looking for all solid wood construction, better quality hardware, and premium appointments will need to consider a more expensive model.

Alternatives to Consider

The Yamaha FG820 is a great entry-level acoustic guitar, but it's certainly not the only option for beginners and intermediate players looking for an affordable, quality instrument. Here are some other guitars to consider in the same price range:

Seagull S6

The Seagull S6 is a popular choice that competes closely with the Yamaha FG820. Handmade in Canada, it features a solid cedar top with a wild cherry back and sides for a slightly brighter, more mid-range focused tone. The S6 has impressive sustain and resonance given its price point, partly thanks to its set neck construction. The wider neck may take some getting used to for players with smaller hands. Overall, the Seagull S6 offers a great balance of quality and affordability.

Taylor GS Mini

For those looking for a compact, travel-friendly option, the Taylor GS Mini is an excellent choice. Despite its smaller size, it produces a surprisingly full, resonant sound thanks to its layered wood construction. The GS Mini has a solid spruce top and layered walnut back and sides, producing balanced tone and dynamics. It has a comfortable short-scale neck that makes fretting easy. The refined aesthetics and smaller body size make the Taylor GS Mini appeal to fingerstyle players on the go.

Martin LX1

The iconic Martin brand offers the LX1 as an affordable entry point. It has a solid spruce top and mahogany high-pressure laminate back and sides. The LX1 produces the balanced, bright Martin tone expected from the brand, with good projection despite its smaller 0-14 body size. It has an easy-playing modified low-oval neck, making it comfortable for long practice sessions. The satin finish helps keep costs down. Overall, the LX1 gives players a taste of the acclaimed Martin sound and craftsmanship at an accessible price point.

Summary

The Yamaha FG820 is an excellent entry-level acoustic guitar that punches above its weight class. Its solid spruce top and nato back and sides produce a balanced, articulate tone that works well for all styles of playing. The slim neck and shorter scale length make it an easy guitar for beginners to learn on.

The FG820's strengths are its playability, construction quality, and versatile sound. The slim neck and lower action facilitate fretting and chord changes. The laminated nato body withstands bumps and knocks while traveling or practicing. And the spruce top provides dynamic warmth and clarity.

While not ideal for advanced players, the FG820 is arguably the best acoustic guitar for beginners or hobbyists on a budget. The accessible neck, lightweight body, and rich projection give newer players the best chance of progressing and getting quality practice time. An excellent value in its price range, the FG820 deserves strong consideration as a first guitar.